Is John Terry Fit To Lead England? If Not, Who Should Replace Him As Captain?
by Patrick Barclay (Commentary | London Times - January 31)
If Fabio Capello and the FA are still thinking about what to do with John Terry, someone else should be doing the thinking. more details | go to article

Idea Of British Players Cheating Is Foreign To Domestic Fans
by Patrick Barclay (Commentary | London Times - December 14)
Of all the contributions made by Scouse players to our game, the least attractive is cheating. We saw it nine days ago when Steven Gerrard was booed by Blackburn Rovers supporters for apparently trying to earn Liverpool a penalty with a simulation technique well known to web-surfers and we saw it again on Saturday, when Wayne Rooney was shown the yellow card for diving over a nonexistent tackle during Manchester United’s match against Aston Villa. more details | go to article

Television Is The Only Credible Goal-Line Aid
by Patrick Barclay (Commentary | Telegraph - March 16)
The low esteem in which the International Football Association Board, notionally the game's supreme law-making body, is held not only in this quarter but by Fifa's leading lights was starkly emphasised by events last weekend in Scotland. more details | go to article

Second-String Cup Tie Looks First-Rate Contest
by Patrick Barclay (Preview | Telegraph - November 28)
You could call it the pick of the Carling Cup quarter-finals - or the most eagerly awaited reserve match of all time. Either way, I'd know it was a reference to Wednesday's match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, where Arsene Wenger's fresh faces will confront young men with something to prove to Sir Alex Ferguson. If, as Alan Hansen once asserted, you win nothing with kids, it is bound to end in a draw. more details | go to article

Fulham Feel The Might Of Mourinho's Minions
by Patrick Barclay (Result | Telegraph - November 14)
This was a painful defeat for Fulham, who equalised after the interval only to suffer three goals against them in 21 minutes, underlined a lesson of the lunchtime contest at White Hart Lane: so richly endowed are the squads of Chelsea and Arsenal that to score against them can be hazardous. Unless, of course, you can learn to defend more competently than the defeated home sides in each of these London derbies. more details | go to article